Marlène Braziewicz says Babolutte

26/04/1987, Liège, Belgium.
Dance Studies: Académie Gretry Liege, CCN Ballet de Nancy.
She's in BJG since September 2008.
Marlène loves cinema and drawing portraits.
She thinks Alexander is cute and sexy. She thinks his work is full of life, moves a lot and uses each and every dancer.
She would sometime like to dance with a Belge Company and her favourite choreograpehr is Christophe Beranger.
Her las trip was to Zanzibar with her parents for 10 days two summers ago.
Kinder is her favourite ice cream flavour.

Luca Signoretti says Andare

26/12/1982, Pesaro, Italy.
Dance Studies: Hangart Pesaro.
He's in BJG since September 2006.
Luca likes music, touching himself and reading, specially about philosophy.
He thinks Alexander is a beautiful person although he doesn't know him very much. He thinks his work is very opened and he appreciates that.
He would sometime like to dance with Alias and his favourite choreographer is Botello.
His last dream was passing an audition.
Tagliatelle with fagioli is his favourite pasta.

Mathilde Gilhet says Mathilde

12/11/1989, Paris, France.
Dance Studies: Centre Chorégraphique National Carolyn Carlson.
She's in BJG since September 2007.
Mathilde likes music, partying, her friends and reading.
She thinks Alexander is happy and easygoing. She thinks his work is interesting and quite theatrical.
She would sometime like to dance in the United States of America and her favourite choreographer is Nacho Duato.
Her last meal was chinese pasta and water.
Iogurt is her favourite ice cream flavour.

Ivanka Moizan says Perseverance

22/07/1989, Cannes, France.
Dance Studies: CNR de Lyon, CNSM de Lyon.
She's in BJG since September 2007.
Ivanka likes practising extreme sports like Kite Surfing, Snowboard and Suf.
She thinks Alexander is very cool and has different ideas. She thinks his work is very complete, being funny but serious at the same time.
She would sometime like to dance nowhere in particular and her favourite choreographer is Daniit Simkin.
Her last meal was black coffee without sugar and an orange juice.
Papillon with crème fraiche and gruyère is her favourite pasta.

Pascal Marty says Subjuguer

08/04/1990, Carcassonne, France.
Dance Studies: Conservatoire de Montpellier.
He's in BJG since September 2008.
Pascal paints, he likes to paint nudes and people when they're sleeping.
He thinks Alexander is fantastic with great human contact. He thinks his work creates a productive but easy-going ambience where each dancer has its place.
He would sometime like to dance with the Random Dance Company or at his village and his favourite choreographer is Forsythe.
His last dream was of him swimming and dancing on the beach.
Vanilla is his favourite ice cream flavour.

I'm amazed by this young dancer. So intelligent and sensitive.

Aude De Ginestet says Cool

16/05/1985, Nouméa, France.
Dance Studies: Conservatoire de Montpellier, Conservatoire d'Avignon.
She's in BJG since September 2007.
Aude likes classical and pop music.
She thins Alexander talks a lot, but she likes him very much. She thinks his work made her discover a new way of making pieces.
She would sometime like to dance with La La La Human Steps and her facourite choreographer is Gil Roman.
Her last trip was to Stockholm for audition three weeks ago.
Blue is her favourite colour.

Claire-Marie Ricarte says Smooth

09/05/1986, Royan, France.
Dance Studies: Ballet de Biarritz, Ballet Junior de Genève.
She's in BJG since Septembre 2006.
Claire-Marie likes going to the cinema and she enjoyed Matrix and Tim Burton's films.
She thinks Alexander is very handsome, hiper-young and is looking for their amusement whilst his also serious. She thinks his work has plenty of energy.
She would sometime like to dance with Batcheva and her favourtie choreographer is Nicola Letiche.
Her last meal were biscuits and tea.
Pistaccio is her favourite ice cream flavour.

Emilia Van Cleeff says Tourte

01/08/1987, Cheuvreuse, France.
Dance Studies: Ballet Junior d'Angouleme, Ballet Junior de Genève.
She's in BJG since Semptembre 2006.
Emilia likes video-dance and photo-dance.
She thinks Alexander goes very far, he does what he wants, he isn't ashamed. She thinks his works is different because he's much younger.
She would sometime like to dance with La La La Human Steps or Preljokaj and his favourite choreographer is Yval Pick.
She sometimes dreams she gets lost.
Pesto Toretelline is her favourite pasta.

Laura Desperamont says Cap

21/02/1989, Suresnes, France.
Dance Studies: Conservatoire d'Avignon; Ballet Junior de Genève.
She's in BJG since September 2008.
Laura likes to travel, the music (specially reggea, salsa and techno) and the reading.
She thinks Alexander is very funny, very simple but creative, has plenty of ideas and listens a lot. She thinks his work is very original, interesting and new.
She would sometime like to dance on the Palais des sports à Paris and her favourite choreographers are Matz Ek and Decouflé.
Her last trip was to Corfou, in Greece, with papa, for two weeks last summer.
Orange is her favourite colour.

Alice Baccile says Parola

28/11/1984, Chieti, Italy.
Dance Studies: I.A.L.S., Rome; La Piroetta, Rome.
Alice likes books, computers and creating electronic music.
She thinks Alexander is a 'very stupid man!' no! She really thinks he's very interesting for his age, he has good ideas and she likes his work on improvisation.
She would sometime like to dance somewhere in Brazil and her favourite dancer is Caterina Buonazia.
Her last meal was a panini with brie and carrots she made herself, some mandarinas and a 'bonbon'.
Rosso is her favourite colour.

Emilie Garetier says Quiproquo

19/12/1988, Marseille, France.
Dance Studies: Conservatoire d'Avignon.
She's in BJG since September 2008.
Emilie likes philosophy, she started studying it last year, but she couldn't handle it.
She thinks Alexander listens a lot and creates regarding the people he's working with. His work is very similar to the kind of dance she usually likes, not narrative, but creating images.
She would sometime likt to dance with Stjin Celis, though she thinks he doesn't have a company by now, and her favourite choreographers are Philipe Decouflé and Denis Plassard.
Her last trip was tu Brussels to audition for PARTS, the audition went well, but she ended up going away because the school is not right for her at the moment.
Nutella and coconut are her favourite ice cream flavours.
She is my favourite.

Filippo Pelacchi says Maremma

19/07/1989, Firenze, Italy.
Dance Studies: CCN de Roubaix.
He's in BJG since September 2007.
Filippo played the piano for five years, but that was a long ago.
He thinks Alexander is hot, and he likes him because he's young, so he understands them better. About his work he thinks it's nice to go comic for a change.
He would sometime like to dance for the NDT and his favourite choreographer is Patrick Delcroix.
Last night he dreamt Alexander took away a step of the piece, and he actually did!
Chocolate is his favourite ice cream flavour.

Bérénice Bersier says Espoir

22/12/1987, Genève, Switzerland.
Dance Studies: Geneva Dance Center; CNSMD de Lyon; Ballet Junior de Genève.
She's in BJG since Semptember 2007.
Bérénice likes going to the cinema and she's studying english for the First exam.
She thinks Alexander is funny, a little bit crazy, he has no limits. She likes his work with rhythm, she thinks he has an idea and he goes to the end of it. The smallest thing becomes an inspiration for him.
She would sometime like to dance with Thierry Malandain or Sidi Larbi, and her favourite choreographer is Jiri Kylian.
Her most repeated nightmare is her falling down from the highest mountain and waking up before she touches the floor. She hasn't looked up what that may mean.
Orange is her favourite colour.

Sabrina Messmer says Fierce

10/06/1985, Zurich, Switzerlarnd.
Dance Studies: Gotterdamse Dansacademie; Conservatory of dance: Purchase College, New York.
She's in BJG since September 2008.
Sabrina likes reading, going hiking and ice skating.
She thinks Alexander is cool and she likes his work because he's really intense in a good way.
She would sometime like to dance with the Forsythe company and her favourite dancer is Jill Johnson.
Her last trip was to Manheim for an audition.
Blue is her favourite colour.

Miki Wakabayashi says Honey Darling

02/10/1987, Tokyo, Japan.
Dance Studies: Rudra, Lausanne; SEAD, Salzburg.
She's in BJG since September 2007.
Miki likes to photography, by now she just uploads her pictures on facebook, but she's thinking on creating a flickr.
She thinks Alexander has many faces, kind of like an actor. Regarding his work she thinks he has a lot of things in his mind that he proposes to others to see how they experience them. CRAZY! It's really different from Japan.
She would sometime like to dance with the Biarritz Ballet and her favourite dancer is Patrick Delcroix.
Her last meal was spinach tortellini with tomato sauce, a beer and a sweet biscuit for dessert.
Grean Tea is her favourite ice cream flavour.

Rémi Bernard says Grave

11/10/1986, Troyes, France.
Dance Studies: Coservatoire de Troyes; CNSMD Lyon; CESMD Poitiers.
He's in BJG since September 2008.
Rémi likes the seventh art and the electronic music. Listening to it, not playing it.
He thinks Alexander is very opened, opened to plenty of things, either for movements and for thoughts; he listens. He doesn't think he has a style, though he defines him as modern and methodic.
He would sometime like to dance with Nacho Duato, at the Opera de Lyon or the Grande Théatre de Genève. I find it cute he wants to come to Spain.
His las trip was to Warsaw, Poland, two summers ago for a week with three friends.
Red is his favourite colour.

Léa Béchu says Atchu!

04/04/1990, Paval, Mayenne, France.
Dance Studies: Conservatoire d'Angers, France.
She's in BJG since September 2008.
Léa likes to play. Her actual answer was 'jouer'. That's cool.
She thinks Alexander is funny and caring and opened... Super! She adores his work, the games as well as the dance moves.
She would sometime like to dance with Mats Ek and her favourite dancers are her mother and Niklas Ek (Mats' brother).
Her last trip was going home for Christmas.
Coquillettes avec du jambon is her favourite kind of pasta.

Diane Malet says Authentique

11/08/1989, La Réunion, France.
Dance Studies: CCCB, La Réunion; Epsédanse, Montpellier.
She's in BJG since September 2008.
Diane likes everything that is related to stage work: spectacles, histories, cinema, literature... and speaks a little bit of spanish.
She likes Alexander because the relation he establishes with the dancers is very different with the other choreographers and his work because she thinks he manages to introduce shocking things in a way they don't look so obviously shocking.
She would sometime like to dance on the NDT or La la la Human Steps (who wouldn't), and her favourite dancer on this moment is some big guy from the Ballet the Biarritz.
Last night she dreamt somehow they all had to eat a very big snake, ahe wonders what might be wrong.
Vanilla is her favourite ice cream flavour.

Irma Oltra Dosrius says Papallona

18/03/1989, Barcelona.
Dance Studies: Eulàlia blasi, Barcelona; Institut del Teatre, Barcelona.
She's in BJG since September 2008.
Irma likes tango dancing, going to stages and out with her friends. He doesn't like to be told what to do.
She thinks that Alexander would be a good colleague and that his work is 'Good!'.
She would sometime like to dance on the Netherlands 2 and her favourite choreography is something called something like 'The top of my head is some not the top of the world'. Who knows.
She dreamt about going back to her child school and finding her and her mom when they were younger.
Stracciatella is her favourite ice cream flavour.

Sixth rehearsal, A and B, directeur d'orchestre.

A) 11:30 - 14:00

B) 15:00 - 17:30

Alex begins the rehearsal by apologizing to the dancers that are left behind. I feel like I have something to do with it. I know he's sorry, I know how hard he finds it. I know that's how it has to be. He tells me later he did read about all this in my blog. I wouldn't want him to have the impression I think less of him because of what happened on Friday. It's actually the opposite. I was astonished by then because I had never assisted in this part of the porcedure, but I learnt that from him. I don't think there's any good way to saying that, everyway is going to be painful. Because it's not about how it's said but what is said. And what is said can't be unsaid because it must be said.

Mmmmm... I understant myself, that's what counts. It'll be my jod to do the big work afterwards, I'll see what I can do.

After this hard part of apologizing for what need no apology, Alex wants to begin the week with a quick run-through. I notice then before doing it he wants to clear up the transitions. I wrote this down on my notebook not really knowing why. I understand now. It's on the transitions that dancers normally get lost. It's easy to remember what you're doing in the middle of the section, but it's more tricky to remember what goes between sections and how to get from one section to another. Oposed to that, if you get lost in a transition, you're lost for the whole piece.

The run-through doesn't go very well. Alex remarks the dancers they're not concentrated and asks them to be. He thinks the movements are alright, but they are not MENTALLY there. I could tell. There was no tension, there was no seduction. He wants them to start working as a team and have the right amount of concentration so that the teaming concentration does not drop. Also, by looking at the run-trhough, Alex realizes what the piece needs, so he's going to extend the first part (the clicking one) until it gets into a climax, otherwise, it moves to easily from one thing to another without really developping anything.

On the second part of the reharsal he puts up a new begining and moves on with the clicking. I realize he doesn't get tired of trying things. He wants to see everything. Even sometimes he asks for something he knows it's not going to work just to see it not working. This is a good quality because seeing everything allows him to be more judgemental. Another quality is he tries to do everything he asks the dancers by himself, to see how it fits on the body.

I find him as a very good orchestra director, which turns out funny. I'm tired today, I'm not funny at all.

Lope came this weekend

And we wandered our love around the cemetery. I have never had a friend like him.

Fifht rehearsal, Part B, just a little bit.

14:15 - 17:00

Alex had to leave at 1500 because he's going back to Stockholm for the weekend, so there's not alot a time. There's a cuddly cat on stage, and the dancers go over what was composed in the morning. Looks likt the begining of the piece is finally settled. When Alexander leaves Marthe goes over everything with the dancers.

Fifth rehearsal, Part A, choosing chooses.

11:15 - 13:30

All the dancers brought something black and smart this morning, and we went through everyone to make sure the dress code matched. Girls on high hills, boys on tap shoes? We'll see about that. After looking over the dresses Alex proposes an improvisation exercise. He wants this improvisation to become some kind of a therapy on this weird and rainy day. I think it allows him to get to know the dancers a little better.

The weirdness of the day gets into the rehearsal after this improvisation where Emilie stands out high upon the rest. Alex announces he's going to work with sixteen people, calls out the names and begins with the real rehearsal. Actually I think today it's the first time I've heard him using the word rehearsal. I feel everyone gets uncomfortable. The girls that are left behind don't feel very good, this whole situation looks kind of out of the blue.

I had still never seen Alex like that. He has changed his temper. He looks serious. He doesn't stop asking for concentration and absolutely wants the dancers to get it right. No more fooling around. He makes what supposably is going to be the final composition. We begin with the clicking of the fingers and he composes with everything we have worked on. It looks better. It's starting to look like a real show.

I feel like there's something wrong. I feel like an explanation should be given to the left behind girls. I feel like they should have a reason why not to leave the rehearsal and go home. I understand I am not used to this kind of thing, maybe this is how it works, but it made me feel bad, it made me feel sorry for them.

Fourth rehearsal, moving forward.

13:45-17:15

We continue with the sentence that we created yesterday; go over it a couple of times and make sure of the counts. I eralize Alex works alot on the music. He is creating a chaos exactly on the counts where music gets chaotic. He then creates a moving, kind of sexual, kind of last-supper, painting.

To move on with the movement sentence, Alex quickly uses the bits of movement he has previously created with all the crowd. He puts the moves in one place or another, back and forth. He also works on the spacing and on the quality of the sentence. Therefore he asks the dancers to repeat the sentence faster, slower, smaller or tighter to be sure of the way he wants it.

I made a friend.

IrmaOltra reminds me of my sister.

Third rehearsal, part B, Going X-rated.

15:30-18:30

After going over all the work, everyone is pretty tired. Everyone feels like they can't click their fingers again, nor do the same movements again, nor breathe in syncrony again. Alex feels that so he makes everyone face the mirror to 'make up a phrase just for fun'. He really has fun. I was sitting there wondering, could I get up and dance with them? I am so stupidly shy I couldn't do it. Now all I can do is regret I didn't, and feel more and more stupid.

Anyway, the phrase looks good, and once again I notice Alexander is very malleable towards his work. He picks up a movement, then looks at the crowd, picks up movements from them, then changes the music, then drops the first part of the sentence, then drops it all and the dancers end up literaly having sex on stage in the most grotesque kind of way.

I'm amazed. What I would really like to learn about him, is this nice possibility of going much more further away than where he started. And the possibility of not feeling sorry about everything he likes but drops on the way there. I supose that's why his favourite word was happiness whilst mine is melancholy. I can't seem to drop things on my way, I always have to keep a tiny souvenir.

Noon break at Plainpalais.

I have lunch on a bench and then visit the market at la plaine de plainpalais (I can't pronounce this place) during the lunch break. It's like the 'encants' but in a bigger and more organized kind of way. The Swiss Encants. Kind of a good metaphor of what I can't stop thinking during this break.

Back in Barcelona, if a rehearsal is scheduled for 12:15 everybody shows up at 12:23 the sooner and the rehearsal starts at 12:30 the sooner again. Obviously it begins with a slow warm up and bla bla bla. Nice and easy, lazybones. In Geneva, when I enter the class at what my clock calls 12:18, it seems like they've been rehearsing for more than half an hour. At the begining I even got the feeling I was being mistold and they were not giving me the real timing.

Non of this bullshit. This is in fact how things should be. If the rehearsal is scheduled for 12:15 the rehearsal begins at 12:15, none of the lateness, none of the warming ups, none of the getting changed.

I've already been 'late' twice over three rehearsals, and as I wander around the beautiful maket, I promise myself I WILL NOT be late again. From now on I'm adjusting my clock to this sooner state of Swiss time, neat and organized. Always getting there 15 minutes early so it's never ever again 3 minutes late.

Third rehearsal, part A, Going political.

12:15-14:00

Alexander gives homework to the dancers. He wants them to think about the kind of songs they really like and analyze why they like it. What is the beat these songs have that makes them feel comfortable and like them. He also wants them to think of very popular songs that everybody knows just by listening to their beat, kind of like 'Stand by me' or 'Billy Jean'.

After this bit of a talking we go through everything that is already chorographed by now. Starting on the clicking he tries to find an entrace to it, and asks the dancers to move together kind of like a massive snake. I want to quote Marthe today: 'When there's many people together, you all become one, so you don't have to be overproductive, otherwise it's a mess.'

The clicking rhythms are very difficult, but they are begining to look good. Alex comes up with the famous sentence 'Yes we can' to encourage the dancers. By the look on his face, I really think he's considering the option of using this. Isn't it fun to go political in this non-political kind of way? I think so.

My first homework

After the rehearsal, Alex and I went for a beer. Or shall I say some beers? Anyway, we talked about our families, about our boyfriends, about washing machines and about nothing at all. At some point we obviously found ourselves talking about the little project that is going on around here. It wasn't a very long conversation, but I got to see him 'thinking' about a piece, which also a very imporant part of the work.

I noticed he makes connections between his ideas as easily as he creates moves. He has a strong capacity to describe what he has worked on and relate it to racional ideas to find out what's he's really talking about. All of a sudden he started screaming: 'It's about rhythm! Of course! Yeah! This piece is about rhythm!' and going back to his usual quietness, he explained he always tries to find a subject or an idea that involves or represents every piece.

So yes, I find out there are subjects in his choreoraphies, but what seems important to me is they're not imposed subjects in any way, they just happen to come along. And, as far as I know Alex by now, I am almost sure the subject may change along with the same facility Messi scores our hearts out back in Barcelona.

Lope told me about this once. I remember him telling me I should always allow my work to change as it grows. Kind of letting it grow by himself. After the beers I was given my first homework regarding this particular project. I am really tempted to ask Lope for help, because I am sure he would find the best text about rhythm, but I really feel I have to do this on my own.

I miss him.

Second rehearsal, 'fosse'-ing.

13:45 - 17:15

Tuesday begins with something brand new. We put aside what we worked on Monday and start working on creating rhythms bi clicking fingers together. It astonishes me how something so simple can become so interesting. He has thought of some rhythms himself and starts the rehearsal by asking the company to do the same thing, while he works with Marthe.

The simplicity of clicking fingers takes me to the reminiscense of Broadway dancing but also the complexity of castañuelas played back home. Alex tries not to go anything like it. I mean he refuses anything that is 'too musical' or 'too flamenco'. That's waht makes it all interesting. The clicking approaches it, but it doesn't become it, and it doesn't become a parody of it either. I learn it is important to realize what you may sound like and try to avoid it, because you're already sounding like it without even trying, and when you try to, it becomes hideous and without any interest. It's kind of like what I said yesterday about trying to 'make funny'.

I'm amazed on the facility he has to compose, I have never seen anything like this in my whole life. In just a second I fins myself in front of a perfectly ordered formation of 23 dancers clicking their fingers at the unison. With the same hability he divides them into different groups and in a minute he has assigned everybody different rhythms and movements that in fact create music and a complex spacial dance.

We work a lot on going over the rhythms. I find out Alexander is very good at analysing his work. He knows when something is good and when something is not that good. He knows if it's coming too fast or too slow, so he's good at making the right changes to improve what he's doing. What I mean here is that he doesn't throw away what he's done but he finds out the way to make the small changes that are gonna make it work.

Marthe leaves and it's late and we're all pretty tired for all the clicking, so Alexander proposes some exercises to the company to make them loose their embarrassement. We all have a pretty good time. It's also a good way to get to know the dancers. I find myself realizing that some dancers I had almost not noticed are pretty good, and get most of my attention.

Got myself a blue bike to stumble around the city.

I'm happy as hell.

First rehearsal, electrelane.

13:45-17:15.

I have troubles finding the school so they're already working when I get there. The dancers are showing Alexander a bit of a piece Marthe, who is an incredibly beautiful woman, taught them before our arrival. What I first notice about Alex is his concern about every little detail. He stops the rehearsal every now and then to ask the dancers to be more 'into it', to focus on their eyes, to look at something every time they move their heads from one side to the other.

The piece consists of little movements made by duets on a phrase that keeps growing everytime it begins. He thinks it's very important to be exact on each movement, otherwise it looses it sense. He asks the dancers to freeze on the precise positions they're suposed to, so he's emphasizing on the fact that every movement doesn't only have a begining but it also has an end, and sometimes the ending of the movement can be even more important than how it begins.

I loved it when he said (and I'm quoting): 'In general, you have to work on being relaxed; try to find a flow on the preciseness'. I find Alexander a very good director to be under the orders of. He substitutes his warm and quiet tone for an excited and enthusiastic one, and he reminds the dancers every correction he has made before doing it all over again.

I remember yesterday we talked about making funny pieces and how it can be more difficult than making a tragic one. This comes out on the rehearsal again. He asks the dancers to believe in his work, to believe on the stupid things that he does, because if they try to go funny, the work becomes overacted, and looses it spirit.

They then continue with another bit of the piece that consists of the dancers making a lot of sound when they breathe, creating rhythms and movements with it. It's absolutely impressive. It makes me feel kind of dizzy while I'm not even doing it! Again he insists on the precision of each breath and the movement that goes along with it. He is very concerned that the movements are not very 'choreographed', so he asks the dancers to do them on their own way.

After going over this two pieces he brings up something new. He teaches them a weird way of running. He's fast. In two minutes he has the 20 dancers that showed up today runing orderly back and forth across the stage on the track of 'Eight Steps' by Electrelane.

Pure Vanilla

Alexander says he's a man with no dreams. Literaly. Obviously he is a man with goals, considering he's just turned 25 and he's choreographing freelance all over the world. He's in Geneva because of his friend and 'assistant' Marthe, who I'm gonna meet tomorrow. She is the one who made the connection between the Ballet Junior de Genève and Alexander. He, by the way, doesn't know a single thing about where he's going. At least that's what he tells me.

He thinks there are around 22 dancers on the BJG, and, even though he doesn't know if he's going to work with all of them, he will prepare a group piece. He says he's going to start by working with piece he choreographed for the Gotenburg some years ago so he can get to know the guys, and if he feels inspired, create something totally new. I hope he feels inspired! He is excited already because he feels working with young people is much fun because they're much opened.

Nice and easy were the adjectives he used to describe himself to me a while ago. I wouldn't say less. He doesn't have a strict method on his directions, he just moves along with whatever is moving. He tells me he used to have everything prepared, but now he just likes to see what the dancers may propose to him (I made sure proposing is not only asking for marriage). Anyway, he has a playlist ready on his Iphone from which he's gonna start working. I agree with him on the fact it's nice to get inspired from the music you like. Music always produces images and movements in our head, so on my opinion too it's one of the best ways to begin with a project.

He pays for my beer (which turns out fantastic because I still haven't changed my euros to swiss money). I'm amazed by his amazing blue eyes and his warm voice. I feel he's gonna do everything he can to make me feel comfortable during the process. He tells me his favourite words are 'hapiness' for its meaning and 'Bordeaux' for its sound. I will tell him I think his favourite word from now on should be 'pure vanilla' based on the way he made it sound when he told me this was his favourite ice cream flavour.

I know that, from now on, whenever I ask for an Ice Cream in English, I'm going to ask for pure vanilla.

Me, me, me.

I called Alexander exactly on time, he was waiting for his luggage at the airport, so he was already in Geneva and it was soon enough so he wouldn't think I don't care. We arrange to meet 1800 Place Neuve in front of the Opera. Where the hell is that? I must thank Google Earth, as usual Mr Google knows everything. A friend of mine used to say 'if it's not on google, it doesn't exist' and also 'Google is God, Msnmessenger is Jesus'. I guess Facebook just phased Jesus out, kind of like Eve did to Margo on the Mankiewicz film. See, I always got to pretend smart.

Go down Rue de l'Athenée, then keep going down Rue de la Croix Rouge and bam, there's Alexander waiting for me. I hate me. See, again always a little bit late, always a little bit on a rush. We enter the Cinema and ask for two beers. I drink before cheering, showing off my politeness again. First thing we settle down is the pronounciation of my name, it's kind of tricky. In catalan you don't pronounce the 'i' before an 'x', it's only there to make the 'x' sound 'sh'.

I was gonna write about Alexander right away, but I think he deserves an entry all by himself. An entry where I stop talking all about myself.

No smoking.

No matter how much I try I always end up picking up a taxi to get to the airport. Pretty stupid because it ends up being at least nine times more expensive, but that's my way of doing. Always a little bit late, always a little bit on a rush. Once I got to the airport all the nerves slowed down. I don't know why airports make me feel comfortable, they make me feel like home. It might be because I know exactly all the procedures I have to go through when I'm there. All the airports in the whole world are quite alike and it's very difficult to get lost. Also, it seems to me nothing can go wrong in an airport. Of course that's not exactly true, but I sense our sensitiveness doesn't care very much about what's true and what's false.

My flight was on delay because it was snowing in Geneva (luckly I've got my boots). I hate it when flights are late, but I ran into Bayo and all the awaitingness felt lighter. I think they should really allow you to smoke on the airports, at least at some places, otherwise it gets boring, and it looses the melancholy of the going-aways and the coming-backs. Sneaking out to smoke in the bathroom is absolutely disgraful and I absolutely don't do that anymore.

Finally on the plane I was taught how to open the emergency exit because the flight attendant considered she should leave me in charge of it (it was actually because I was sitting right next to it, but I like feeling smart in some kind of way). I had the most amazing flight. When we were almost in Geneva the sexy voice from the captain advised us to look at our rights. The peak of the Montblanc was coming out of the carpet of clouds. I don't recall having seen anything like this in my entire life. It truly made me cry, I felt like I had to pay an extra charge for the amazing sight-seeing (am I making up this word?).

Xavier was too kind and picked me up at the airport. I can't tell wether the percentage of excitement by seeing him again after at least a decade was higher than the weirdness I was feeling. It's like meeting someone new that you've met before in a dream or something. He drove me 'home' on his scooter (my luggage surprisingly fitted), and I must say I was a bit scared considering the big case in front and all the snow.

The apartment is wonderful. Parquet floor and a lot of heat to keep outside the cold. Forbidden to smoke unless I do it through my window, which turns out fine because I get to think and do nothing else but thinking while I hang my head out during my cigarettes. That's exactly what I was doing when I took those pictures. Thinking what time do swedish people consider 'afternoon' so I wouldn't call Alexander too soon nor too late.

Sunday morning, destreno.

Yesterday I found out it's actually really cold in Geneva so I bought myself a pair of hot boots. And a pair of jeans and sweater to match with my new boots. I hardly ever buy clothes, so no guilt feelings. I wore them today. Lope took some going away pictures with my new clothes. It's the begining of the journey.